


Acts of Affiance

by dadrithiad



Series: Acts of Affiance [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Courting Rituals, M/M, Marriage Contracts, betrothal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23992291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dadrithiad/pseuds/dadrithiad
Summary: Harry is just trying to keep his head above water after the events of his fourth year, when he receives a most shocking bit of news. How will he navigate his new status, expectations and obligations?
Relationships: Theodore Nott/Harry Potter
Series: Acts of Affiance [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1974802
Comments: 4
Kudos: 130





	1. Powerless

**Author's Note:**

> Something new. I've been obsessed with Harry and Theo lately. No beta. Hope you enjoy!

Weeks into the summer holidays, Harry lay awake. It was late, but since the end of his fourth year, he’d been restless, though that statement was rather mild. Plagued by nightmares, some real and some imagined, some waking and some not, he was exhausted, but somehow wide awake. 

With his things locked away, nothing but menial tasks to sustain him, and having not heard from his friends, he’d had time to do nothing but think, cry, and rage. All of his thinking had made him come to certain realizations. 

He remembered the sting of betrayal, as everyone save Hermione, Hagrid, and perhaps Sirius, turned away from him, didn’t trust him, didn’t believe him. 

He remembered the stillness just before the heat of a dragon’s flame was much too close. 

He remembered the shocking chill of the icy water of the Black Lake. 

He remembered the burn of anger and the pang of hurt, seeing Cho and Cedric in each other’s arms. 

He remembered the gut-wrenching anguish, as the life left Cedric.

But most of all, he remembered being powerless, tied to a gravestone. 

He didn’t want to feel powerless anymore. He’d do something in the morning about it, he would. 

__________________________________________________

Rather than taking charge of his life, instead Harry’s morning saw the completion of several chores. Weed the garden. Clean the windows. Sweep and mop the floors. Clean the kitchen. His head still hurt from where it had collided with the inside of the stove when Dudley’d shoved him in it. He didn’t see the end of his list of chores until two o’clock. Happy to have finished his chores, he slowly made his way into the kitchen, hoping for something to eat. Unfortunately, instead of an empty kitchen, he was greeted by the sneering face of his aunt. 

“I do hope you don’t think you’ll be eating, boy,” his aunt’s tone was scathing. “You’ve tracked mud through the back door, and you’ve left tools all _over_ the yard! _Clean_ it _up_!” Nose almost comically in the air, she made her way into the living room. 

Harry grumbled internally as he felt his anger ebb and flow. He’d done his best today but in the true form of his relatives, nothing was good enough. Pacing in the hallway, he passed the cupboard under the stairs. Glaring, and wishing he had a way to get to his things, he felt magic welling up within him. He gasped, knowing that if anything happened, he’d be in trouble, even not having meant to perform any magic. He breathed in and out slowly until his magic calmed, then he stole upstairs as silently as he could to get a hairpin. 

Picking the lock was a lot more difficult than Fred and George had made it out to be, but he’d been successfully able to unlock the cupboard, all without being noticed by his relatives. His thoughts turned gleeful. He couldn’t take everything, but he did grab his wand, money pouch, and invisibility cloak. 

He made his way slowly to the back door, slipped on his cloak, and made his way out into the garden. He’d forgotten how free he felt under his cloak. He traipsed through the yard, and out onto the lane. Making his way down the lane, to the most secluded area he could find, he summoned the Knight Bus and made his way to the Leaky Cauldron. 

Once inside the pub, he didn’t really know what his next steps should be, only that he was glad to be free. He spied a copy of The Daily Prophet forgotten at the bar and considered ordering a meal and perusing the paper while he formulated a plan. 

“Mister Potter. I have been looking for you for quite some time. How fortuitous that I might find you here,” murmured a slight man, tall and spindly, to Harry’s right. Harry nervously gripped his wand in his pocket.


	2. Implausible News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry talks to his solicitor. You know. the one he was never aware he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still drunk. Still got the writing bug tonight. This chapter has been half finished in my drafts for months, I've finally finished it. You may find this boring, but i thought it a rather interesting conversation between solicitor and client.

“Mister Potter. I have been looking for you for quite some time. How fortuitous that I might find you here,” murmured a slight man, tall and spindly, to Harry’s right. Harry nervously gripped his wand in his pocket.

The man held his hands up in surrender and spoke again. “My name is Horatius Ashdown. I am your solicitor.”

“I haven’t got a solicitor,” Harry muttered with narrowed eyes. The man smirked. 

“You’ve got a solicitor. You’ve likely just never been informed of the fact.” Harry’s eyes widened. 

“It may have been fine that you weren’t informed before, but now that you are of age, I should have been able to speak with you long before now.” 

Harry’s eyes were now wide as saucers. “What do you mean, of age?” The solicitor almost looked as though he thought Harry was joking, but as he eyed Harry speculatively, he must have determined Harry was not. “I thought it likely you hadn’t received any of my post, but surely you must know that as a result of your participation in the Triwizard tournament, you are now, for all intents and purposes, of age.” 

“But, _how_?” Harry asked. 

“To my understanding – your entrance into the Triwizard tournament being what it was, combined with the Ministry’s requirement that entrants be of age, and your participation being allowed by your guardian… A perfect storm factors pressing Magic to judge you for all intents and purposes, emancipated.”

Harry rather thought that made _some_ sense, but, “I don’t even know that my guardians were informed of the tournament. If they were, I never heard anything about it.” 

“No, your magical guardian – Albus Dumbledore.” Harry could tell that the solicitor was passing judgment on his intelligence. 

“But Dumbledore said there was no way out of it, why would he have said that if it required his approval?” 

“I have great respect and admiration for Albus Dumbledore – but that’s one I really couldn’t explain. Now, we have great matters to discuss. Please, accompany me to a private room.” 

Harry didn’t really think it was one of his better ideas to follow an unknown wizard to a private room, but at the same time, he wondered, what could it hurt, at this point? Harry continued to weigh his options, and decided he might as well play along, even if that was a bit stupid. He nodded, and followed the man up to a room. 

Once ensconced in one of the private rooms the Leaky Cauldron had on offer, the man spoke again. “Now as I said, we do have several matters to discuss. There are the matters of your status, your investments and businesses, your betrothal –”

“My _what?_ ” Harry was sure that he didn’t like that word. 

“I’m sorry to speak so freely. Of course, you wouldn’t have known. A marriage contract has sat, unfulfilled, for over one hundred years. Well, perhaps 95 years. I’d have to do the math, to be sure. Your ancestors who came before you were quite lucky, as the stipulations written into this contract by your many greats grandfather, Leondris Potter, were based on age, preference, and honestly a great number of things that prevented it from being fulfilled by any of your previous ancestors. However, it seems you and the Nott heir are close in age, and apparently, preference… And so, the contract is active once again.” 

“How can a contract be _alive?_ ” Harry murmured doubtfully. 

The solicitor’s eyes narrowed, wondering if Harry was having him on. “It’s _magic_. Does it need any explanation? The magic has awakened and seeks fulfillment. You are fortunate in the broad stipulations of the contract itself, and in the fact that the Nott boy must is obligated to at least make attempt to win your favor, though his winning your favor ultimately has no bearing on whether the contract needs fulfilled… Still, he must make an attempt.” 

Harry felt bile in the back of his throat. “Do… Do they know? The Notts, do they know?” 

“I honestly couldn’t tell you, Mister Potter... Whether Theophilus or Theodore Nott, the last living members of the Nott family, are aware, I could not tell you…” The solicitor said, his tone frank. Harry swallowed. “It would likely be best to assume so. However… It is a very gratuitous contract, as far as these things typically go… You should be very thankful. Most contracts have many more restricting stipulations than yours.”

Harry didn’t feel very thankful at the moment.


End file.
